Expert brands Boris Johnson’s Brexit claims 'big con trick'

Professor Michael Dougan from the University of Liverpool explained how Boris Johnson's deal is "one of the biggest con tricks of the lot". Photo: Michael Dougan / PA - Credit: Archant

A professor of European Law has pulled apart one of Boris Johnson’s key Brexit claims, which he calls ‘one of the biggest con tricks of the lot’ in a twenty minute video of hard analysis.

Professor Michael Dougan, who lectures at the University of Liverpool, put out a video which suggests leaving the European on the prime minister’s terms “just means finishing the first stage of the Brexit process and beginning the next.”

Dougan also claims it is highly unlikely that Johnson will deliver Brexit within his most recently proposed timescale.

He said: “Even assuming that Johnson delivers Brexit in January 2020, is that the same as getting Brexit done? The answer of course is no.

“This is one of the biggest con tricks of the lot because leaving the EU on Johnson’s terms just means finishing the first stage of the Brexit process and beginning the next.

“If the UK is serious about a future partnership with the EU those talks would be even more complex and even more sensitive than the ones we have experienced so far.

“Though the question does need to be asked I think – is Johnson really serious about a future partnership with the EU at all? Because there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise.”

Prior to the 2016 referendum, Dougan released a video criticising the debate’s “dishonesty on an industrial scale” which racked up millions of views.

In the newest video, Dougan gives a history of Brexit beginning with Theresa May’s deal, alongside working through key issues and misconceptions surrounding Northern Ireland and the customs union.

Dougan says: “The withdrawal agreement provides for a transitional period which should last until the end of December 2020 during which the status quo is effectively maintained while the EU and UK negotiate their future relationship.

“There is no real, credible chance that that complex, sensitive set of negotiations and agreements will be concluded, ratified and ready to enforce by December 2020.

“Boris Johnson’s great new deal really will have simply postponed by several months the no-deal outcome that many of his hard right supporters have been lobbying for.”